Where Darkness Hides Light Follows
by TooManyFantasies
Summary: "Have you ever wished I was her?" Hermione asked. Harry had no clue how to answer that question, because had he ever wished for someone else? One Shot.


**Where Darkness Hides Light Follows**

**I got inspired by a tiny story, and had to write something myself. I hope you like it.**

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After an incredibly long day at work, Harry found himself at the entrance of his home. The cold November wind soar through the sky, softly slithering in between the locks of his hair, blowing the black locks in front of his eyes. With tired hands he blindly searched for the key inside his leather bound bag as he blew a few pieces of black hair from his forehead.

Without much thought he opened the lock and let himself in to be greeted by his welcoming home. The scent of dying embers whiffed around his nose, creating a peaceful mindset. The scent brought him back to the times the three of them were out in the woods. Quietly sitting next to each other around the dying embers of previously heated wooden blocks, not knowing who they'd ended up there.

A tiny smile graced his lips at the thought of those previous moments all those years ago. A lot had changed from then on. Some good, some bad - if he had to speak the truth.

With a soft thud his bag made contact with the wooden floor inside the small hallway. He loosened his tie with his left hand as he reached for the light switch with his right hand. With a small click light illuminated the hallway, revealing a wooden set of stairs covered in a narrow blue carpet.

She did have a sense of decorating, he had to admit with a knowing smile.

The entire house had been absent of light, so he decided that it would be best to go straight to bed. After all, she must be there already.

After a quick dash up the stairs he was greeted by a dim light at the end of the hallway. A single door was creaked open, leaving little space for the light to escape.

Without second thought he opened the door with a yawn and pulled his hand through his unruly mop of black hair.

"Back so soon?" a soft voice asked.

He shook his head with a tiny chuckle. "They decided to let me off early today," he joked as he relieved himself of his coat.

"You've got to stand up for yourself more," the voice answered, followed by a tiny yawn.

"I know.. but those people..," he sighed, "I couldn't just leave them there without providing solid protection."

He turned around to meet the woman who had waited for him all night to show up. "I'll try to be more strict with myself, Hermione," he said.

A tired smile graced her kind features. "How many times have I told you to leave your coat downstairs in the closet?" she raised an eyebrow.

Harry smiled sheepishly as he pretended to hide his coat behind his back.

"Get some rest, you must be tired," she closed the book she had been reading, and silently rose from the window seat. She disrobed herself from her silk robe and climbed into bed with long pyjama pants and a thick hoodie.

"I will," he said as he quickly changed into his own thick pyjama's - considering the temperatures had dropped immensely as the year had reached the month November.

The wind flew around the house bringing fluttering sounds with it through the open window. Harry quickly closed it so that he could finally get his well deserved rest and climbed into bed after Hermione did.

He pushed the side of his face deeper into his soft pillow whilst making a content sound. The warm covers heated up his worn out body after a long day of work at the Auror Department. His muscles slowly shook loose, but that pleasant feeling unfortunately didn't last for long - as his muscles cramped back together when Hermione asked her unexpected question.

"Harry?"

His eyes jerked open, meeting her creamy brown ones who reminded him oh so much of the chocolate professor Lupin used to give him as a treat.

The thought of Lupin brought a painful pang to his heart so he quickly discarded that thought into oblivion.

"Yes?" he whispered.

Her eyebrows knotted into question. A strange emotion of pain fluttered across her expression before it calmed.

"Have you ever wished I was her?"

What?

His heart skipped a beat as his breath caught inside his throat. A sting of pain flashed across his chest as his breath hitched.

"W-what?"

Her expression suddenly became blank. As if her question had already been answered without words.

"Never mind, I was just curious, get some rest," she turned around, pulling the blanket tighter around her shoulder.

But after that oh so painful question he was quite unable to get some rest, just at the moment he desperately needed it!

But he decided that rest could wait. His wife needed his answer, he knew it. And it pained him that she questioned if he truly loved her. It pained him even more that he immediately knew who 'she' was that Hermione asked about.

So he got up out of bed and started pacing.

It was Ginny, of course it was Ginny, whom she was talking about.

Ginevra Weasley who had caught his heart in his sixth year at Hogwarts. The fiery hot-headed redhaired girl who wasn't afraid of telling him wrong. The girl who flew with him above the clouds if he merely asked her to. The girl who left him for Dean Thomas.

It actually came to no surprise really, but he really had wanted to ignore the signs.

Ginny and Dean had dated in his fifth year at Hogwarts. There were ups and downs, of course, but overall downs. Dean had been in a tough situation for the last three years of Hogwarts. His family had been falling apart, his father had been under a lot of pressure. Harry's heart had truly ached for him, since Dean still was a good friend of his.

Dean's communication and emotions had gradually decreased into loneliness and anger. He was at war with himself inside his head. Harry had known it from the first time he acknowledged this, for he had battled with himself many times before.

Ginny was a woman with class. She knew how to handle herself, and how to stay strong – the diary of Tom Riddle had helped her with that a great deal, unfortunately. But she also had a soft side. A desire to search for the good in any person. To help people with their inner battles.

She was a kind spirit with a soft helping hand.

So, no, it came to no surprise that she wanted to help Dean out of the dark hole he had found himself in for many years.

Even though Harry had wanted to ignore the signs, he simply.. couldn't.

Ginny gradually lost interest in him and showed more interest in Dean. Her spare time went to him and to him only. Slowly, but surely, her helping hand had pulled Dean out of his darkness and into her light.

Ginny had left him for good. She had left him for Dean Thomas.

However he bore no hard feelings to him or to her, because he knew that it was the only option anyways. Since day one it should have been clear for him, but he simply chose to ignore the signs.

But not anymore. He deserved someone who would love him as much as Ginny loved Dean and Dean loved Ginny. So he let her go, with pain in his heart, but with an open mind and a clear path rolled out in front of him.

It had been tough for him, those months after their breakup. He had never felt more alone in his life than in that single moment. But how stupid he had been. How stupid he still was.

Through his pain he could not see the truth that was right in front of him. The truth of his survival, but most important of all, the truth of his happiness.

During those dark months he only had one true constant in his life, considering Ron was busy off completing his Auror duties – which he completely understood, more or less. The one constant had been his brown haired friend with the large front teeth he couldn't help but love. The way they were shown as she smiled, her brown eyes filled with stars shining brightly at her merriness.

Those brown eyes that had always managed to calm him down.

He now understood the true meaning of light in the darkness through her eyes. It shouldn't have been that simple, but.. it just was. With one glance at her dark eyes he understood how stars were able to shine among them.

For without darkness, light cannot survive.

It depends on one another. Without the other it cannot survive, just like his relationship with Hermione.

Without her he would've been lost forevermore. During the dark days when they were at war she had been the single constant who never doubted his mind, nor his path. As she had done during the months his heart had been shattered.

And with each day it got a little bit easier.

His heart got a little lighter, just as his life began to clear. Showing him a clear and promising path towards his destiny. And that precious path led him to her.

Hermione Jean Granger. The one woman who could tell his wrongs and rights. The one who wasn't afraid of his duty nor his past. And truth to be told.. he loved her for it.

She always stood by his side. Not behind him, not in front of him, but next to him. Holding his hand with a firm hold and a determined expression on her bold face. Because no matter what life threw at him she would be there for him.

She wouldn't be protecting him since she couldn't withhold the pain life threw at him nor would she catch him when he fell. Because she would make sure he wouldn't fall since she would be by his side fighting the problem with both hands.

And he loved her for it.

So why did he even hesitate when she asked him her question? Why did he feel the need to think of Ginny and not just Hermione. His beloved wife who had giving him her trust and even her life inside his hands to keep safe.

And he would keep it safe.

He climbed back into their large comfortable bed with a soft smile gracing his tired face. Cautiously he brushed a few strands of brown hair away from her neck, making her eyelids flutter open in surprise.

"No," he simply said. "I have not."

She turned around with a tired, but relieved, smile. "Good," she patted his hand and turned back around burying her head even more into her pillow.

Slowly her chest started rising a little less and her breath deepened. The wind around their home – yes their home, because it was her, his wife, that made it that way- still roared, yet he felt oddly at peace.

He knew she'd given him her trust on a silver platter with the intention of him keeping it safe and sound, and he intended to keep it that way.

With a sigh he buried his head into his pillow as he slipped his arm swiftly around her waist, pulling her against his chest, basking in her warmth.

And just as easily as she'd fallen asleep, he soon followed after with a warm feeling inside his chest.

No, indeed, he had never wished that Hermione was Ginny from time to time. Ginny simply didn't match Hermione's beauty inside and out. She never would, not for him at least. But that was okay.

He had a beautiful chapter with Ginny, and had learned a lot from it. But destiny had a funny way of showing it. But he was completely okay with that.

Because it had led him to someone beautiful.

And that was okay.

He was happy.

He was loved.

He was at peace.


End file.
